The Commerce Commission is investigating amid hundreds of complaints about the cancelled Juicy Fest NZ music festival, and says it may widen that out to include another event if required.
Hundreds of would-be concert goers have been demanding refunds, and answers, following the cancellation of the festival and the postponement of the Timeless Summer Tour.
Juicy Fest, a four-date, single day event featuring acts such as Ludacris, Akon and Jay Sean, was scheduled for Tauranga, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in January.
However, it was cancelled in December over what organisers claimed was “an intentional” effort to stop the shows from going ahead and licensing issues, it was reported as saying by the NZ Herald.
The Timeless Summer Tour, due to take place in Christchurch, Napier, New Plymouth, Tauranga and Auckland, and featuring 80s stars such as Boy George, Bonnie Tyler and Starship has also been postponed.
“To all of our valued Timeless Summer Tour customers, we are saddened to announce that, after careful consideration, we must postpone the inaugural Timeless Summer Tour, which was scheduled to take place in New Zealand and Australia in January 2025,” a message said.
Both festivals were to be run by promoter Timeless Live.
The Commerce Commission has had 258 complaints about Juicy Fest since December, and 26 about Timeless Summer Tours.
It said in a statement it was investigating Juicy Fest and may widen the inquiry to include the running of the Timeless Summer Festival if required.
‘Disappointed’
Jan Tollemache had tickets for the Timeless Summer Festival and was “disappointed” in the cancellation.
The Commerce Commission is investigating complaints after the postponement of the Timeless Summer Tour, Business Correspondent Katie Bradford reports. (Source: 1News)
“We were going to have wine, we were going to have cheese, we were going to have crackers, and it was just going to be a really exciting day.”
She has joined hundreds in repeatedly asking Timeless Live and ticketing agency Ticket Fairy for a refund.
She received an email back from Ticket Fairy which said it did not hold the funds and that all funds were paid to the promoter.
It asked customers to be patient as it dealt with hundreds, potentially thousands, of emails.
“All we want is transparency and communication,” Tollemache said.
“If we’re not getting our money back, for goodness sake, at least just tell us that so we can move on, because this is just ridiculous.”
‘Pretty unreasonable’
Consumer NZ said the appropriate amount of time for a refund is a maximum of two-to-three weeks.
“Anything longer than that is pretty unreasonable,” said spokesperson Sahar Lone.
Ticketholders to both Juicy Fest and the Timeless Summer Festival have been waiting close to 10 weeks to receive their refunds.
Music promoter Brent Eccles said the number one person to protect was the consumer.
“When someone buys a ticket for a concert, you expect that money will be held in trust until the concert happens and the money is released to the promoter. If the show was cancelled, the first thing should happen is the money should go straight back to the person who bought the ticket.”
Timeless Live and Ticket Fairy did not respond to 1News’ requests for comment.
